Secret Six
by Dalek Prime
Summary: After spending years alone in the jungle reinventing himself, Jack Spicer finds himself thrown back into the dark world of villainy when a great tragedy strikes him after he refused to join a society of super-villains. Now alongside five other outcasts, Jack seeks to bring down the army of evil, but can this small group of misfits prevail? Loosely based on the DC comics series.
1. Villains United

**A/N: I don't own Xaiolin Showdown or anything else mentioned**

* * *

Chapter One: Villains United

It started with six.

Six of the worst villains from all corners of the world and even from beyond the stars. Six villains, who in their right were dangerous enough on their own, had decided to unite with one another for one simple goal: the complete and total destruction of their enemies. Together, they pooled their resources, knowledge and tactics together to form the most formidable force of evil the very universe had ever known. The six were known and feared throughout the world as…

Lord Dominator: Intergalactic warlord and destroyer of entire galaxies.

Vlad Plasmius: Devious billionaire and secretly a sinister ghost/human hybrid.

Cobra Commander: Ruthless leader of the terrorist organization known as Cobra.

XANA: A sentient computer A.I with dreams of conquering the world.

Demona: An immortal gargoyle whose mastery over both science and sorcery made her a force to be feared.

And finally, there was their leader, the one who had united the six together in order to bring wrath and ruin down about their respective enemies. His name was Toffee, a creature that hailed from a world called Mewni. Like the other villains, Toffee sought out revenge against those who had wrong him. The Septarian was once a general in a grand army of monsters who sought to fight against the tyranny of the ruling class of their world, the Mewmans. Going against the orders of his leaders, Toffee slew the queen of Mewni, but his victory was sort lived his slain enemy's daughter, Princess Moon, placed a curse on him that robbed the general of his immortality. So, he hid in the shadows, waiting for the proper moment to strike down those who had wronged him and his people for so long and finally claim the vengeance he had wish upon the Mewman royal family for so long.

Toffee had been fighting his war with the Butterfly family on his own for a while now when he got an idea. There was an old saying that Toffee once never really took to heat: there's safety in numbers. Truth be told, the former general never really put much stock in those words, since he always considered allying himself with others a nuisance, that was until he saw the change in the world that was going on around him. While his plans centered around the princess of Mewni and her people, Toffee always kept tabs on the other heroes of earth in case he should ever cross paths with them by chance, and what he was starting to see with the other heroes was beginning to trouble him.

From Amity Park to as far as Paris, heroes from across the world were beginning to appear all across the globe. Not only that, but the man-lizard also noticed that these said heroes were starting to unite more and more often. Toffee knew that one day these heroes would join together into one unified force that would crush not only him, but also others like him as well. This was a future that Toffee could not let come to fruition and immediately went about setting up a team of his own. It wasn't easy to not only find these other villains, but also to get them to sit in a room together on top of that. What was easy, however, was talking them into working together, and convincing people to unwittingly work together was something Toffee could do in spades.

He played on their fears, their hatred and their desires to see those who had wronged them suffer as they had suffered. It wasn't before long that the man-lizard had managed to get the other members of his team to cooperate with one another, and together, they went about making this team even larger than before. the six newly united villains went about recruiting others into their ranks. They enticed other villains with special perks to joining this group. They offered protection from the heroes they fought against and paid work for any missions they were sent out on. They also made some rather not so subtle threats to those who didn't want to play with their plans.

The Secret Society. That's what they called themselves.

Villains from Miracle City, Townsville, Copper Canyon, Megadale and other parts of the globe flocked to join Toffee's ever-growing alliance. Some were small-time crooks like Professor Princess, Candy Rapper and the Box Ghost while others were serious threats such as Hawkmoth, Dr. Drakken and Thailog. Granted not every villain was on board with working with the Society, but those attempted to reject the offer were met with fierce reprisal. Some major villains such as Him, Megatron and Chase Young had managed to refuse acceptance into the army of evil on the grounds that no one could order them. Those types of evil doers were left alone, for Toffee and his fellow leaders of the Society had no intention with starting a war that would ultimately prove pointless to their cause.

However, there were still some villains who did not have neither the power nor the influence to refuse the Society still stood against them…

* * *

 _ **Africa, The Congo**_

"No" he said to them firmly

Zombozo and Katnappe could only look at the teen who had just refused them in a state of total perplexment. On Toffee's orders, the duo was sent out into the depths of the African Congo in order to recruit another villain into their society, one whom had seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. Once he was boy genius with dreams of world conquest, but his constant incompetence made him a joke among his peers. One day, for whatever reason, he switched off his robots and bought a plane ticket to central Africa, were the boy had since remained for two years now. After searching the depths of the humid jungle for a week, the two villains found the lost villain, who upon first glance they could tell had become a changed man.

His name was Jack Spicer, and the living joke that he once was had died.

Gone was Jack's all-black attire and heli-pack, now he only wore a pair of black shorts with matching black boots and his signature goggles atop his head. He also wore a necklace with a set of leopard claws on it, no doubt a trophy he claimed when he slew the beast. The lack of clothing reveled that he bulked up from his time in the jungle. He was no longer the scrawny weakling that Katnappe knew him to be, now Jack had built up some muscles while he had stepped away from the outside world, something that the cat-themed thief found very interesting. The two villains who had been set to collect him could see a series of scars that ranged from claw marks to wounds made by gunshots. Strapped to his back was the Monkey Staff, one of the many mystical objects known as the Shen-Gong-Wu. This one in particular granted the user all the abilities of a monkey, something that no doubt came handy to Jack while he lived alone in the Congo.

From Katnappe remembered of Jack, he was a bumbling idiot who always trying to earn the attention of his peers, all of whom thought he was beyond pathetic. True Jack was a genius, but his over-inflated ego was more than often the reason he failed time and time again. Jack was not only a considered nuisance and a moron to those he was trying to impress like Chase Young, but the rest of the villain community didn't give him much respect either. Kat always assumed that the boy genius was either going to give up the business of villainy or just commit suicide—or do both, at some point in his life. But never in Kat's wildest dreams did she think that the boy she once thought of as a total failure in life become something so completely different than he once was.

"What do you mean no?!" Zombozo demanded "Do you know what we had to go through just to find you?! I nearly died from dysentery because of you!"

"Come on Spicer, it's a good deal" Katnappe insisted "you get to be a part of something big. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"I did once" he admitted "But that's not who I am anymore"

"I don't get it Kat, you said this guy was an idiot!" the physic clown argued

"He was—I mean he is!" the cat-themed villain tried to reason "the Jack Spicer I know is a brownnosing screw-up—he's not supposed to look like some goth Tarzan!"

"Well he doesn't look like that now, does he?!" Zombozo shot back before turning his attention back Jack "now you listen to me, do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do to you?"

"I do, and I don't care" Jack answered plainly "the sun's still going to rise and set everyday weather or not I'm still breathing. So, your little society, much less yours threats, don't scare me, Zombozo"

"I'm going to pull out your insides through your nose you little punk!" the clown snarled

"You might be able to do that, but I'm sure my friends wouldn't be happy with you if you did" the teen informed him

Before either villain could ask what exactly what Jack had meant by that, they heard the sound of something rustling in the underbrush that surrounded them. Slowly emerging out of the jungle, a family group of gorillas appeared, and all of them looked as though they were ready for a fight. Jack remained where he stood, but both villains could see as his muscles slightly tighten up at the apprehension of the fight that was to come. If this was the Jack Katnappe once knew, then he would've ran off at the first chance he got, but instead this new Jack looked like he was ready to be the first to jump headlong into the battle at the drop of a hat.

"Mankind has spent centuries trying to make them extinct" he told them "I'm sure they wouldn't mind returning the favor"

The gorillas that now surrounded Katnappe and Zombozo began to growl and bare their fangs at the villainous duo, however they remained where they were, waiting for Jack to give them the signal to attack. both Zombozo and Katnappe knew they could take out several of the apes, but even if they managed to kill a few of them, the rest of the troop would still be able to overrun them and proceed to rip them limb from limb—not to mention there was still no telling what Jack would do to them should he decide to step in and join the carnage. Even though the redhead still hadn't shown his new fighting prowess, both the thief and the clown had a pretty good idea that the teen had picked up some new moves during his time in Africa.

"Ok Jackie, we get the message" Katnappe told him "But don't think this is over"

"It should be Ashely—for your sake" Jack warned, using the girls real name as he did "By the way, if you run into any poachers on your way back, could do me the favor of skinning them alive for me?"

With that, Jack turned around and began to walk back into the depths of the jungle with the gorillas following close behind him. As they watched him disappear back into the Congo's vast jungle, Katnappe and Zombozo had no idea what exactly about the fact that Jack Spicer of all people had just told them no.

* * *

"He said WHAT?!" Vlad roared upon hearing the report from Katnappe

After filing her report to the leaders of the Secret Society, the six heads of the organization gathered together in their private meeting room to discuss what to do with the boy who had denied their offer to join their group. The Society had made their main headquarters in one of Cobra's secret undersea base, where their kept constant tabs on those who served within the ranks of the organization. Upon hearing the news about Jack's refusal to join the Society, it goes without saying that some of the leaders of the group were insulted by this.

"Who does that little creep think he is?!" the half-ghost continued to rant "I can understand being rejected by someone like Bill Cipher or Zarkon, but Jack freaking Spicer?! Absolutely not!"

"I agree with Plasmius!" Cobra Commander spoke up "We cannot let this insult go unpunished!"

"Oh baby, now you're talking!" Dominator said with a laugh "I say we wipe that whole damn jungle off the face of this mudball planet!"

"That would be a highly illogical maneuver, Dominator" XANA, who was speaking through an android body, protested "while the boy did refuse our offer, it would be a waste of resources to kill a single individual"

"XANA has a point" Demona agreed "while our sources mentioned nothing of Spicer's sudden transformation, it would be pointless to kill some boy who lives alone in the jungle"

"I don't think either of you understand the implications this could have on our society" Vlad argued sharply "we all knew we'd get some backlash from the big names, but what message would we send to our other members if we can't rope in some third-rate never was?"

It was then that Dominator turned to look over to Toffee, who had not said a word this entire time.

"Toffee, you've been awfully quite during this entire meeting" the warlord said to their leader "care to give us your two cents, oh fearless leader?"

The humanoid reptile had remained silent during the whole of the meeting, only sitting at his chair at the end of the table and listening to his peer's bicker among themselves. This was the norm for Toffee, only speaking when he had something to say or when one of the other heads of the Society wanted his input on a certain matter, this being one of those times.

"So, do we kill him or not?" Vlad inquired

Toffee didn't reply right away, he had a tendency to do so as a tactic to keep the others hanging on every word he had to say.

"We don't" he finally said plainly

"What?!" Cobra Commander exclaimed in anger, shooting up from his chair as he did "Have you lost your mind, you brain-addled lizard!"

"You better step off snake-boy, or I might have to turn your insides into liquid!" Dominator warned, her firsts forming lava as they did

It was no secret that the intergalactic psychopath and the former general had a formed relationship during their time together in the Society, though it was more of a physical attraction between them rather than an emotional one. While they disagreed on how to handle certain matters such as this one, Dominator still fiercely defended her partner from anyone who attempted to challenge him in any capacity. However, Cobra Commander did not back down from his associates threats and instead began to reach for the gun that was holstered to his belt. Vlad, XANA and Demona waited with anticipation for the possible slaughter that was to come.

"Enough" Toffee commanded in a stoic tone as he a raised hand "This in-fighting was not the reason we decided to join forces"

Cobra Commander and Dominator both stared each down for several seconds before relenting in unison. Once they were seated, Toffee spoke once more.

"Mr. Spicer has made it quite clear to us that he has no intention of joining our organization" he began "So out of courtesy, let us leave him be. In fact, let's not touch him at all"

It took a few moments for the meaning behind their leader's words to sink in, but once it did, a collective dark smile formed on everyone's lips.

* * *

Jack downed his sixth glass of whisky before asking for another a seventh. He had been drinking like this since the crack of dawn at a bar that was locating within a small trading outpost just outside the jungle he called home that he occasionally traded animal skins for resources at. The teen had also redressed himself back into his original attire, save for the leopard claw necklace that still hung around his neck. Jack didn't care much for humanity these days, but there were still things he needed from the outside world in order to survive in the Congo. However, right now the only thing he wanted was another glass of alcohol to try and drown his sorrows and keep his hate strong.

After telling Ashly and the clown to leave, Jack figured there would be some sort of reprisal against him. One doesn't just say no to an entire army of villains lead by six of the most dangerous people on the planet and expect to walk away scot free. Jack could honestly care less if the Society sent someone to kill him, so long as he got to take out as many of them as he could before they managed to leave him a corpse. It was the most basic law of the jungle: only the strongest survive, and if one couldn't adapt to that rule, then they deserved to die. There was a time when Jack would've cut and run or gone to the leaders of the Society and begged them for forgiveness, but that side of the teen ad died in the fires of his rebirth into the person he was now.

However, while Jack expected that the organization would attack him directly, he failed to realize that there were other ways they could do harm to him. It was four days after he rejected the offer to join the Secret Society, Jack returned from a hunt to find that his troop of gorillas had been brutally massacred. At first, the teen assumed that the apes had been butchered by poachers whom Jack had dealt with in the past, but upon closer inspection of the wounds that were inflicted on his troop, the teen deduced that his gorillas were not killed by gunfire, but the blasts of a lasers. What really stood out was the fact that the lasers and blades that were used weren't the type to be used on humans or animals, but instead were more than likely used to hunt a different kind of prey.

Weapons that were used to hunt something like ghosts.

Weapons that only someone like Skulker would have.

He failed them. He had protected the troop from leopards, crocodiles and the evils of men, but when they needed his protection the most from something they could fight against, he wasn't there to save them. even if he couldn't take on Skulker head on, he would have preferred died fighting protecting them instead of being left in the blood of the family he had adopted. However, he had no desire of just sitting here drinking himself senseless, he had too much hate for that. There was another law of the jungle that Jack understood even before he lived among the apes: an eye for an eye.

And he had every intention of ripping Toffee and his cohort's eyes right out of their skulls for what they did to him.

As he continued to drink his whisky, a woman entered the bar. Jack could smell the scent of lavender perfume from the newcomer even from where he was sitting. The woman in question was skinny and in her late teens with blonde hair and tanned skin. She had on a sleeveless stripped blue shirt on with kakis and scandals, obviously the only clothing one would wear out here to be trendy in this heat. The woman made her way across the bar and approached Jack, who didn't turn around to acknowledge her presence.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked coolly

"If you're from the Society then you better make your peace with God real quick" Jack told her bluntly "Because I'm sending my message back to them written on your skull"

"I'm not with those losers, Spicer" the girl replied, "My name's Camille Leon, and I've an offer you just can't refuse"

"Camille Leon?" the young genius repeated "aren't you that former celeb that Kim Possible occasionally beats up"

Jack's visitor grimaced at that remark. The former evil genius was well aware of who this woman was before she even stepped inside the bar. Camille Leon was a former teen idol who was also a master of disguise. When her fame was coming to an end, she turned to a life of crime, only to be stopped time and again by teen superhero, Kim Possible. The way she carried herself made Jack want to gag, he could almost smell the arrogance that was coming off of her.

"Look, I represent a group of people who refused the Society's offer to join them like you did" Camille explained "we heard about what happened to your monkeys—"

"Gorillas aren't monkeys" Jack tensely corrected "Their apes"

"Whatever" the blonde shrugged off "As I was saying, we heard about what happened to your 'apes' and we were wondering if you wanted to do something about it?"

"I'm in" Jack answered simply

"Really? Just like that?" Camille questioned in surprise "Huh, that was easy"

"Did you have some grand speech to try and convince with?" the fellow villain inquired

"Nah, not really" the former teen idol admitted

"I know why you want me on this little team of yours, Ms. Leon" the redhead commented "You want to embarrass the Society. Well, to tell you the truth I'm fine with it. They killed my gorillas, so I'm going to make them suffer"

"Now that's what I like to hear" Camille said "We've got a jet parked out on the nearby runway. We'll leave as soon as you're ready"

"Just a second" Jack replied, "There's something I have to do first"

Jack then reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to the bartender.

"Could you make sure this gets mailed?" he asked

The bartender nodded to Jack in acknowledgment. With that, the outcast villain followed the girl out of the bar.

"So, do we know how many have already signed on with Toffee's Society?" he questioned

"From what we know, there's about two hundred recruits in the Society so far and growing" Camille answered

"And how many are on this team of yours?" Jack furthered

"Counting you? Six" the former teen idol simply stated

"This just keeps getting better and better" the goth groaned, facepalming as he did

* * *

The flight from Africa back to America didn't feel that long to Jack, then again, his mind was elsewhere. All he could think about was how going to make Toffee and the rest of the Secret Society pay for what they done to him. Returning to the states did feel odd to the goth at first, after spending so much time in the jungles of the Congo, he had nearly forgotten what it was like living in a more civilized part of the world—if one could call it that. The rules of the jungles easily pertained to the urban jungle, for as Jack learned at a young, the strong preyed on the weak, and Jack was no longer among the weak.

He still didn't know what to make of Camille, other than the fact that she lived up to her bratty reputation that is. There was a part of former evil genius that wondered if this all some big ruse and she was instead taking him to the Secret Society's headquarters to be executed by Toffee personally. If that was the case, then he'd make sure that he'd rip the blonde's throat out before the man-lizard had the pleasure of killing him. He still didn't know what to think of this team she had told him either—assuming that there even was a team to begin with, of course. Jack had no idea how a team this small group bring down the entire Society, then again, even if it did fail, the Jack would make sure that he took a few of the villains with him.

The private jet landed on a makeshift runway out in the middle of a seemingly dead forest. Jack gathered his things and followed Camille out of the plane and out into the forest. It was then that the follow villainous teen led Jack toward a massive Victorian era-mansion in the center of the forest.

"Nice place" Jack commented dryly

"Our headquarters, it was given to use by our leader, Cardinal" Camille informed him

"Who the hell is Cardinal?" the goth asked

"Our leader. He's the one who brought us all together" the former model answered, "The only thing we know about him is that he's got a real axe to grind with the Society and chose us to fight them"

Jack would've made a comment about how real leaders lead from the front instead of the back if he wasn't reminded that he himself had done that in the past with his Jack-Bots. So, he kept his mouth shut and followed Camille inside the mansion. Upon seeing the lavished insides, the goth had to admit that he impressed what he saw. Being in the jungle made him forget about such things like running water and beds, there when even a part of him that missed toilet paper. Camille led Jack into a large room with a large table at the center of it with a massive TV screen in front of it. However, Jack was pretty sure that this wasn't the living room.

Sitting at the table were three other costumed villains, all of whom Jack knew of by their respective reputations. The first was Black Cuervo, a young villain from Miracle City whose mother and grandmother were both career villains. Together, the three women formed a trio of advanced armored thieves known as the Flock of Fury. It surprised Jack to see the girl here and not her family who had no doubt joined the ranks of the society. The next was Shezap, the psychotic clone of Megadale's protector, Shezow, who was born from toxic waste that mixed with a broken fingernail from the hero's hand. Finally, there was a little green-skinned creature whom Jack could only assume was Zim, the little alien who Jack had heard rumors about. From what the goth understood about him, Zim was more of a danger to himself than he was to the planet.

"So, this is it?" he commented, clearly unimpressed by the line-up before "a kid, a transgender clone and a little green alien?"

"You're no prize yourself" Shezap sneered with contempt

"You dare call the great Zim tiny?!" the alien exclaimed "You will pay! YOU WILL PAY!"

"And I thought you said there was six of us" Jack furthered to Camille "do you not know how to count?"

"You rode in him, jackass" the fellow teen informed him sharply "That jet is our other member. His name is Nitro Zeus, he's a Decepticon"

That took the goth aback by that statement. He had never encounter a Decepticon—let alone any Transformer for that matter. Jack once had a wild idea in his younger days to try to rewire the Decepticons and make them steal the Shen-Gong-Wu from the monks' vault, but that idea more than likely gone the way of most of his plans: badly. Then, almost as if on cue, a human sized hologram of the alien robot appeared in one of the seats. Nitro Zeus looked similar to another Decpticon Jack had heard about named Shockwave, however this robot lacked Shockwave's signature gun arm and purple coloring and was covered from head to metallic toe in weapons.

"Hope you enjoyed the ride fleshbag, because it was a glitch and a half trying find you in that damn jungle!" the alien robot scolded Jack "we should've just carpet bombed the whole thing and drove you out, but noooo, Cardinal wanted to be 'formal' and invite you here"

"And just where is this Cardinal guy I keep hearing about anyway?" Jack mused

Just then, the screen in the meeting room let out a nearly blinding flash of light as it switched on. When the flash faded away, the outline of a man hidden in the shadows materialized before them. The six villains took their seats and focused solely on the shadowy man on the screen who was most assuredly Cardinal.

"You are the six" Cardinal began in a modulated voice "Alone, you were all useless, weak and posed no challenge to those whom you fought against"

"Great pep talk so far, boss" Camille muttered

"But together you six can become the greatest force of evil this world has ever known!" their mysterious leader continued "together, we shall destroy Toffee and his so-called Society. And from the ashes of their defeat, we shall spit upon their graves as we sit upon our golden thrones!"

"Alright enough!" Black Cuervo sudden snapped "If I wanted to jump through hoops, I would've joined the Society!"

"Zim agrees with the bird-woman" Zim spoke up "I only wanted to see what you had to offer to defeat the Society, but it is clear that you only give us lies!"

"Yeah, I didn't come here to get treated like a lapdog!" Shezap added on

"I think you misunderstand me" Cardinal said, "I'm not asking you to join me, I'm ordering you to join me"

"And what if we say no?" Cuervo questioned

"Then you will be punished" their boss replied simply "for example: with one word I can have the boy you love killed in his sleep"

The words that were just spoken to the bird-themed villain visible shook her. It was known that Black Cuervo and Miracle City's young hero/villain, El Tigre, were an item after he had broken off his relationship with his long-time friend, Frida. While Tigre could take care of himself, there was a good chance that Cardinal could make good on this threat. Fearing the worst for the boy she loved, Cuervo backed down.

"And that each goes for all of you" their faceless leader furthered "each of you have weaknesses I can crush you with. But it needn't be this way, not when our true enemy is the Society"

"So, assuming we say yes, what do we get out of this?" Camille inquired

"You'll get Europe, Camille" Cardinal told her "all of Europe"

It was then that the screen switched to show them six villains the globe and what parts of it they would each inherit. As mentioned before, Camille would receive Europe for her service. Jack would get Africa, Shezap would rule South America whereas Black Cuervo would get both north and central America while Nitro Zeus would take control of the whole of Asia and Zim would claim Australia. It all seemed too good to be true, and some of the villains thought that it was, however they could back out while knowing Cardinal could destroy them. As for Jack, he could care less if Cardinal prize was true or not, all he cared about was getting his revenge. So, without giving it a second thought, the goth stood up from his seat and gave his answer.

"I'm in" he told his new boss

"Me to" Camille followed, standing up as well

"It ain't like we got a choice" Nitro Zeus added as he stood up

"I'm in to" Cuervo said as she stood

"Meh, it'll be fun" Shezap mused as he stood

"The mighty Zim will offer his grand expertise to this band of lowly mud pigs!" the Irken proclaimed "watch as I stand to illustrate my point!"

"Then it is decided" cardinal told them "From now on, you shall be known as the Secret Six"


	2. First Strike

Chapter Two: First Strike

Zoe Aves was a very light sleeper, she had to be growing up in Miracle City. Her mother and grandmother taught her that even with their bases high-tech security system that there were still susceptible to being attacked in their sleep by a rival villain or worse, a hero. So, when the young villain heard a sound just outside her bedroom, her eyes snapped out open and she immediately went into attack mode. Even though she wasn't in her armor at the moment, she still had a small wrist laser for an occasion such as this. There was part of Zoe had been itching for a fight ever since she joined this team, so the idea of a late-night break-in by the Society actually excited her—if only for the thought of put a few holes in their recruits.

The child villainess slowly opened the door to her room, only just enough so she could look into the room that was just outside her own, which was kitchen. From the crack in her doorway Zoe could see a tall figure in shadows rummaging through the drawers looking for something. The thief charged up her laser as she slowly crept out of her room and advanced toward the intruder until she was right behind him. But just before she put a beam of energy through the trespasser's skull, the figure suddenly drew a knife from one of the drawers and held up against her throat before flipping on the light switch with their free hand, revealing to the young villain that this no intruder.

"Spicer" she acknowledged

"Aves" Jack, who was only dressed in a t-shirt and a pair sweat pants, regarded

Despite being teammates, the two remained locked in a standoff. It had been three days since Jack had joined the team, and in that time frame, the two hadn't quite exactly warmed up to one another. Zoe wasn't too trusting of the rest of her teammates, but something about Jack really rubbed her the wrong way. From what she knew about him, he was something of a coward with some very large disillusions of granger. However, the man he had become was drastically different from the young villainess had heard about. This Jack was hardened, focused and dare she say, even a bit scary from the whimpering fool she was led to believe he was. That's what irritated her about him: if Jack could make a change like that, what's to say that he could easily switch sides to?

"So, can't sleep?" she asked with suspicion hidden behind her words

"I was just roaming the grounds" the fellow goth replied, "I'm kind of a night person"

"Well, that sounds completely innocent" Zoe commented, totality unconvinced "nothing suspicious about that at all"

Neither villain lowered their weapons. Instead they remained locked their stalemate in silence for several seconds before the boy genius spoke up again.

"I can feel your pulse through the blade, Aves" Jack noted, slightly apprehensive "It's just a stitch fast"

"Is that right?" the youngest member of the Flock of Fury answered before asking "So, what were you doing in the kitchen?"

"I was just about to make some eggs" Jack mentioned

"I also enjoy a good egg on occasion" Zoe agreed with fake interest "And not just because of the bird theme either"

"Yeah, eggs get a bad rap" her teammate said, still tense from their standoff "but you do realize that I can't make said eggs until you lower your laser"

"Then I guess we're going to starve" the girl shrugged

"Zoe, have you considered the possibility that neither of us are really good at the whole 'self-perseveration' thing, and that part of us are hoping that this'll end badly?" Jack suggested

Zoe said nothing in response, only narrowing her eyes back at her teammate defiantly. Both young villains stood their ground, neither flinching from the other in what could very well be a bloodbath waiting to happen. As they continued their standoff, Zoe carefully read Jack's facial expressions for even the tiniest hint that he was bluffing, but found none. He truly was ready for a fight with her just much as she was with him. Zoe wasn't sure whether to respect him for that or shoot him.

"Screw it" Jack suddenly said as he put the knife down on the table "If you wanna shoot a guy before he eats, that's your thing"

With that, Jack turned away from his teammate ad walked over to the refrigerator, leaving Zoe both perplexed and slightly relieved by how the situation went. It was then that she heard a low gurgling sound emanating from her belly, indicating that it wanted food. Seeing that Jack was making a late-night snack, she decided to power down her weapon and join him in his meal.

"Cheese omelet good with you?" he asked as he pulled the eggs out of the fridge

"Sure" she simply replied, taking a seat at the table as she did "and extra pepper if you can find any"

"You really do have a death wish, you know that?" Jack noted

"So I've been told" Zoe regarded

The two villains again remained silent while Jack made the omelets. While Zoe had switched off her wrist laser, she still kept her guard up. The young girl was never all that good with trusting new people, a trait she had picked up from her mother and grandmother. The Aves family had nasty habit of putting themselves out there and being either mocked by any potential friends or betrayed by those they love. It still astounded her that when Manny confessed his feelings for her that they were genuine, considering the last time he said he wanted to be in a relationship with her he used her to back in good graces with his father. Admittedly, it took her awhile to warm up to the idea of trusting her crush's words, but in time, she came to accept both the boy's trust and his love for the young girl.

As expected, her family was against their relationship. She couldn't blame them, all things considered, even she couldn't believe that the youngest of the Riviera's had wanted to be with her over his long-time friend, Frida. It was difficult for Manny as well, for his father and grandfather were not hot on the idea either. They did not trust Zoe and made themselves very clear that showed no love for the girl. Granted, Manny's grandpa eventually gave his blessings to Zoe to be with his grandson, but by then it was too little to late when the Society came to recruit the villains of Miracle City to their cause. Now here she was, away from the boy she loved and stuck with other outcasts trying to take down an organization of psychopaths who want them death—two of said psychopaths were her own family members.

"So, let me ask you something, Zoe" Jack began as he set the girl's omelet in front of her "Have you ever met Cardinal?"

"Nope, not once" she replied as Jack took a seat across from her "Camille recruited me after I told the Society to piss off"

"I'm guessing that's how Nitro, Shezap and Zim got roped into this as well" the teen mused as he took a bite of his omelet "got any ideas on who Cardinal could be?"

"There's to many possibilities" Zoe told him as he began to eat her meal "a lot of big time villains turned down the Society's offer to join them. Maybe one of them decided to fight back and were just pawns in their game"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've been used" Jack mentioned dryly

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you used to be a suck-up for Chase Young and Wuya" Cuervo chided "speaking of which, what happened to you? Last I heard you were nothing more than a spineless little creep, now here you are looking for a fight with the Society. What made you go from a brownnoser to a badass? And where did you get that necklace?"

"I'd…rather not talk about that. All you need to know is that the Society sent Skulker to kill my gorillas" Jack answered in a dark tone "Now I'm going to kill them all, or die trying"

"Jesus, did the jungle make you an edgelord to?" the young villainess scoffed "be realistic here Spicer, the odds aren't exactly stacked in our favor in this war. So, before you go all 'I'll avenge my monkeys' on me, try to at least understand what you're up against here"

"Well, if you're so pessimistic about our chances, why did you hook up with this team to begin with?" the boy genius questioned "I know Cardinal's got leverage on you, but why did you say no to the Society in the first place? I know you family joined them—"

"That's my business, not yours" Zoe cut him off in a sharp tone "and unless you want that omelet to be your last meal, then you'll drop the subject right now!"

Seeing that he wasn't going to get much else out of her, Jack decided to stop prying and instead focused on eating his omelet. The two sat in silence, save for the sounds they made as they ate the meals. Just then, Camille walked into the kitchen dressed in normal attire instead of her night cloths, indicating that she was insomniac like Jack was, or something was up.

"Oh good, your both up" she said, "get your stuff, Cardinal has a mission for us"

* * *

After getting dressed and gathering their equipment, Jack and Zoe met with the rest of the team in front of the mansion. In the short time he had known them, Jack still didn't know what to make of his new teammates. Zoe was standoffish with him and clearly distrustful with him, making him wonder what had the Society done to her to anger her so. Shezap was completely psychotic and a time bomb waiting to go off at any second, and with the powers she wielded, Jack only hoped that she unleashed her insanity on her enemies instead of her allies. Zim wasn't much different, only his mental stability was more in line with sheer stupidity. Nitro Zeus had no love for anyone on the team, as was the case with typical Decepticons and their believed superiority over other lifeforms. The alien robot usually mocked and badgered his colleagues for being made of flesh instead of metal, and it tended to get on everyone else's nerves.

It seemed as though the only sane ones aside from him were Black Cuervo and Camille Leon, but one of them wanted nothing to do with the goth. Ever since he met Camille, Jack had wondered what was the reason behind the former celebs reasoning behind refusing to join the Society. Aside from Cuervo, the others were easy to figure out. Shezap was a creature of chaos and hated order of any kind, including order made from other villains. Zim was an egotistical wannabe world conqueror and obviously refused to let anyone rule the world other than himself. As for Nitro Zeus…he just wanted to blow stuff up.

But Camille seemed different to Jack, as if there was something more to joining the group of outcast villains. Whatever Cardinal had on her to join his team must have been something grand to keep her here, considering that all reports he had heard about her indicated that she was in incredibly anti-social around others and cared more for being adored then having real friends. However, Jack occasionally noticed a certain gleam in her eye whenever she looked his way, like a predator sizing up her prey, or better put, a potential mate. The redhead couldn't deny that Camille was attractive, but her snarky personality was rather off-putting to him. Still, he had a pretty good sense that one way or another, they were going to end up in bed together before this was over.

"All aboard air Zeus!" Nitro Zeus announced to the others as he transformed "Todays non-stop flight includes a large chance of pain and suffering!"

The rest of the team climbed into the Decepticon before taking off. Once everyone was situated, Camille stepped in front of everyone in order to give them the details for their first mission.

"Alright listen up" she began "our destination is New York City"

"Hold up, do you know how many heroes live in New York?" Zoe spoke up "I signed up to take on the Society, not the freaks in that city!"

Every hero new that the city of New York was home to a menagerie of heroes. Sewer-dwelling mutant turtles, a clan of gargoyles and even a dragon protected the streets of the city from the forces of evil, there were even rumors that a group of witches also protected the city as well. While none of the Six were not fans of heroes of any kind, they were out to wage war on the Society, not to get entangled in a fight with the forces of good.

"Our target isn't any of the heroes, Cuervo" Camille corrected "Cardinal says that our main target is a Russian oil tanker that just docked in the harbor earlier tonight"

"What does he want with an oil tanker?" Jack questioned

"Because it's a front for Destro's arms dealing circuit" Camille answered, "which means Cobra Commander is hooking up his buddies in the Society with some serious weapons. Stuff that they intend to use on us"

"What kinda firepower are we talking here, toots?" Shezap inquired

"The alien kind" the former teen idol said "Decepticon, Irken and even Galra-grade weapons are stored in that tanker"

"Nonsense! The mighty Tallest would not sell Irken weaponry to the filthy Society of filth!" Zim exclaimed in denial "These are lies! Lies!"

"Just because you didn't throw in with Toffee's gang doesn't mean that your bosses didn't either" Nitro Zeus spoke up "Megatron may not have aligned with the Society, but he still sells weapons to them in exchange for Energon"

"That might be the case with Zarkon and Zim's Tallest as well" Jack added on "they may not be part of Toffee's group, but they know they'll make a profit selling to them all the same"

"I just wanna go on record and say that I do not want to be shot by some laser that'll pull me inside out" Shezap interjected

"Which is why Cardinal's ordered us to steal those weapons for ourselves" Camille answered

"Toffee's not going to leave his toys unguarded" Jack pointed out

"Cardinal says he's already got it figured out" the blonde elaborated "The Society's arrogant. They won't expect a frontal assault by such a small group like ours. Here's the plan…"

However, as the former celeb began to discuss their method of taking possession of the weapons, none of the Six were aware that someone was listening in on their plan.

* * *

Far from the Secret Six, someone was spying on their plans to raid the oil tanker. The person in question was in fact XANA, who had been recording the entire conversation from the bug that was planted inside of Nitro Zeus for the leaders of the Society to hear. They had tapped the six's conversation the moment they heard about their formation. In one way, it was troubling that six of the villains who had rejected their offer had been brought together, but on the other hand, it did make it easier for the leaders of the Society for them to take down them all at once rather than hunt them down separately. It was puzzling to them at first as to how six villains, all of whom were very anti-social, could be formed into a team. However, upon hearing the name Cardinal, it suddenly made sense to the heads of the organization.

The anonymous individual known only as Cardinal had been a plight to the Society in the past. From stealing data from right under XANA's nose to sabotaging weapons that they had either stolen or purchased from off-planet sellers, Cardinal had been a thorn in the Society's side since its inception. The six leaders had tried numerous times to try and track down their unknown adversary, but he always seemed one step ahead of them. even Toffee had to admit that Cardinal's intellect matched his own. So, the revelation that it was in fact their hidden enemy who had formed his own team, it made them all the more willing to hunt them down.

"Nice job on bugging the Con, big X" Dominator said

"I cannot take credit for this, Dominator" the A.I denied "I may have been listening in on the bug, but I did not plant it"

"Then it would appear that there is a traitor in the Six's midst" Demona concluded

"But who could we have on the inside in that team?" XANA questioned

"It doesn't matter, we just need to nip this team in the bud before they become a problem" Vlad mentioned

"Agreed. Which is why I have organized my finest soldiers to wait for these fools and ambush them at the harbor!" Cobra Commander informed the others

"Tell them to stand down" Toffee suddenly ordered

Everyone turned to face their leader with a collective look of shock on their faces.

"What do you mean 'stand down'?!" Dominator exclaimed "We've got them right where we want them and you wanna let those bastards live?!"

"We need them alive…for now" their leader explained "remember: these are Cardinal's pawns, then they might know who he is. So, if we capture them, then they can perhaps lead us to our enemy"

"And then we can kill them all!" Cobra Commander proclaimed

"Precisely, commander" the man-lizard confirmed with a small smirk forming at the corner of his crocodile-like mouth "we will both strike down Cardinal and send a message to anyone else who dares to oppose us"

"Now that's what I'm talking about, babe!" Dominator cheered with a wicked laugh

"But why tell the commander's men to stand down?" Vlad inquired

"We built this Society for a reason, Masters" Toffee reminded him "I think its high time we put our recruits to work against a real challenge"

* * *

The rain came down hard from the nights sky as the team of outcasts drove toward their target. After disembarking from Nitro Zeus, the other five members of the Secret Six stole a nearby jeep and drove toward the harbor. Due to his weakness to water, Zim was forced to wear a dark green raincoat to protect himself from the pouring rain, all the while complaining that she should've waited until the storm had moved on, to which no listened to. The plan was simple enough: go in, take out the guards quickly and quickly, steal the guns and then get the hell out of there before any members from the Society showed up and beat them to death. Despite wanting to join in on the mission, Nitro Zeus, much to his chagrin, was ordered to hang back in case this mission went sideways and the rest of the six had to make a quick escape. It sounded easy enough on a whole, but Jack knew from past experiences that even the best laid plans had a tendency to backfire.

"What's with the pensive look, Spicer?" Black Cuervo asked

"Something doesn't feel right about this" Jack replied, "The sooner we get those guns and get out of here the better"

"Agreed" Camille mentioned as she pulled up to the dock "We're here. You guys know what to do"

The five villains disembarked from the jeep and instantly went to work, Jack and Zoe took to the skies while Shezap shadow-traveled from the dock and onto the boat itself. Meanwhile, Camille made herself appear to look like one of Cobra Commander's top operatives, Baroness while extended the robot legs from his PAK and scurried up the towline of the tanker. The plan was that while Camille distracted the guards with her disguise, the others would sneak in, take out any remaining guards before finding the guns and making off with them. However, when the former teen idol reached one of the ship's gangplank, she found not a single guard there waiting for her. The same went for the others, who found not a single soul on the oil tanker.

"Uh, guys?" Shezap said to the others via a COMM-link in their ears "I'm in the ship's cargo hold and there's not a single laser in here"

"This has got to be bad intel or an ambush" Jack suggested "We need to leave—now!"

"Then let's get the hell out of here" Camille told everyone "Nitro, we're heading back to you, you copy?"

"Aw, leaving so soon?" came a female voice with a Russian accent "but the party's just getting started"

The other villains had regrouped with Camille just in time to see what was right in front of her. It was the real Baroness, and she wasn't alone. Standing behind her were a menagerie of villains. There were twelve Society members in total that had arrived to catch them, and all them were ready to tear the team limb from limb. Alongside Baroness was Katnappe, Bebop, Rocksteady, Mega Monkey, Ember, Tox-Zon, the Angry Archer, Charmcaster, Princess Morbucks, El Oso and Chuck, the Evil Sandwich making guy. Seeing that they were hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched, Jack decided that it was time to put his training to use.

"Go. I'll try to draw them away from you" he told the others as he drew his Shen-Gong-Wu "And if you have to fight…fight to kill"

"What does he think he's doing?" Camille questioned as the rest of the group ran for it

"He's either being really brave, or really stupid" Shezap replied "now shut up and run for it!"

Jack stood his ground as his team made their escape. He knew he stood little chance against the horde of villains, but he was going to make sure that if he was going to die tonight he would take as many as he could with him.

"I told you you'd be sorry, Jackie" Katnappe said mockingly as she and the other villains advanced toward him

"I think I told you same thing, Ashly" Jack replied, "and unlike you, I'm going to make good on my promise!"

While Baroness lead half of her team after the other members of Jack's team, Katnappe, Angry Archer, Chuck, Mega Monkey, Rocksteady and El Oso stayed behind to deal with the goth themselves. Ashley made the first move by pouncing at the redhead, but Jack quickly sidestepped her before delivering a surprise roundhouse kick to her back, thus sending her flying forwards. Chuck took aim at the renegade villain with his condiment gun. But just before he could pull the trigger, Jack drew a surprise knife from his under wrist and threw it at the sandwich headed villain, striking him in the shoulder and making him fire his gun wildly while he cried out in pain. A stray stream of ketchup hit the angry archer directly in the eyes, blinding him long enough for Jack to run up to him and knock him out with one blow to his jaw.

It was at that point that El Oso came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Jack and captured him in a crushing embrace. Working quickly, the boy genius called on the power of the Monkey Staff to give him the strength he needed to break free from the bear-themed villains grasp. The moment he was free, he spun around and jumped into the air. Once he was over El Oso's head, Jack constricted his tail around the villain throat before using his strength to bring him down as he landed. Oso attempted to get back to his feet, but Jack bashed him over the head with his staff, knocking him out in the process. in a fit of primal rage, Jack continued to pummel the unconscious man-bear with his staff, all the while screeching and howling like the animal he had become.

"Hmph, uncivilized brute!" Mega Monkey proclaimed as tacked Jack to the ground "you give apes like me a bad name—and that's my job!"

During the surprised tackle, Mega Monkey had managed to knock the Monkey Staff out of his hands, making the boy revert back to his normal self. He then began to punch the goth repeatedly in the face and chest. But just as he went in for another punch, Jack quickly moved his head to side to evade the blow and inside took his mouth and bit down on his foe's hand, making him let out a screech of pain before Jack bit off two of his finger and shoved him off his person. Once he got back to his feet, Jack attempted to recover his staff, but Katnappe leapt in and snatched the Shen-Gong-Wu before he could reach it. Jack was ready to rush his former rival when Rocksteady suddenly charged in from the side and rammed him dead-on with a devastating strike that sent him flying backwards into a pile of nearby boxes.

Jack tried to get back to his feet, but feel that at least one or two of his ribs where broken from the impact of Rocksteady's horn. But he fought through the pain and struggled to stand once more, only for Ashley to kick him in the chest to make him fall down once more.

"If you only knew what we've got planned for you, Spicer" she said with a dark chuckle

The last thing Jack saw before everything went black was Katanppe's boot coming down on his face.

* * *

"Mr. Spicer? Are you awake?" a voice asked him

The voice didn't belong to any of his teammates, so it meant only one of two things: either he was in heaven or his night was about to get a whole lot shittier. The goth slowly opened his eyes to find a blinding light looking down on him, but it wasn't the shiny lights of the pearly gates, it was the light from a lamp, the type of lamp they use in surgery. His vision was blurry when he first came to, but once his sight had managed to readjust herself, he almost wished it hadn't. He was strapped down tight to a surgical chair. His shirt and jacket and been removed from his person. His mouth was covered by a ball gag and he felt something like a steel collar around his neck. But that wasn't half as terrifying as who was currently standing over him.

It was Dr. Mindbender, Cobra Commander's chief scientist who had a flare for not only designing the most horrific weapons in Cobra's arsenal, but also dabbled in more extreme forms of torture. It was needless to say that Jack was going to be on the receiving end of said torture.

"Ah good, your awake" Mindbender said "don't worry about the rest of your team. They've been detained as well, you'll be reunited with them soon enough. I'm told they put up quite the fight before their capture"

Jack growled in response as he struggled in his restraints.

"Please refrain from such tactics, Mr. Spicer" the scientist informed him "even if you could somehow break your restraints, you wouldn't get very far. The needle in your collar would inject a lethal dose of King Cobra venom directly into your neck. Not to mention that we have several of our Society's members standing guard within this building. And I can assure you that they might kill you quicker than the venom does"

The teen continued to struggle in his bounds while Mindbender went over to a steel crate that held an array of needles, scalpels and other surgical devices. He then picked up a syringe filled with a dark purple liquid before returning to Jack's side.

"This is something of my own concoction" he told his captive as he stuck the needle into the boy's arm "It's a special blend of chemicals that heightens your body's pain receptors. Think of it like a sort truth serum. If you don't tell me what I what to know, then It'll only hurt you more"

Jack muffled out several less than kind words.

"No, you're right. It's not like truth serum at all" the scientist admitted

Just then, one of Mindbender's assistants stepped into the room, pushing in a car battery and pair of jumper cables along with him. Mindbender walked over to the cables, switched them on and headed back to Jack.

"I'm going to completely honest with you, Mr. Spicer" he began "I want you to know that this is your new reality now until we no longer need you. Whatever courage or strength you think you have left in you, it will won't be enough, and will soon be buried in shame and despair. You will tell me what you know, and will suffer regardless"

Mindbender clicked both of the jumper cable's clamps in front of Jack to show him what he was in for. Jacked bit down hard on his ball gag and shut his eyes tightly. He knew what was coming and had no intention of letting his captors see the pain in his eyes when they flipped that switch. But his plans of hiding his agony was all for not when Mindbender's assistant took a pair of surgical clamps and forced open his eyelids.

"Now I'm going to ask you three simple questions over and over until you give me what I want" the Cobra scientist told him "What do you know of our Society? What are your groups intention toward us?"

He moved the jumper cable clamps closer to his chest before asking his final question.

"And most importantly…" he continued "who is Cardinal?"


End file.
